Everyone, it seems, has a health problem. After pouring billions into the National Health Service, British people moan about dir

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问题     Everyone, it seems, has a health problem. After pouring billions into the National Health Service, British people moan about dirty hospitals, long waits and wasted money. In Germany, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, is under fire for suggesting changing the financing of its health system. Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made a big fuss during the election about reducing the country’s lengthy medical queues. Across the rich world, affluence, ageing and advancing technology are driving up health spending faster than income.
    But nowhere has a bigger health problem than America. Soaring medical bills are squeezing wages, swelling the ranks of the uninsured and pushing huge firms and perhaps even the government towards bankruptcy. Ford’s announcement that it would cut up to 30,000 jobs was as much a sign of its "legacy" health-care costs as of the ills of the car industry. Pushed by polls that show health care is one of his main domestic problems and by forecasts showing that the baby boomers will crush the government’s finances, President of the United Stares is to unveil a reform plan in next week’s state-of-the-union address.
    America’s health system is unlike any other. The United States spends 16% of its GDP on health, around twice the rich-country average, equivalent to $6,280 for every American each year. Yet it is the only rich country that does not guarantee universal health coverage. Thanks to an accident of history, most Americans receive health insurance through their employer, with the government picking up the bill for the poor and the elderly.
    This curious hybrid certainly has its strengths. Americans have more choice than anybody else, and their health-care system is much more innovative. Europeans’ bills could be much higher if American medicine were not doing much of their Research and Development (R&D) for them. But there are also huge weaknesses. The one most often cited—especially by foreigners—is the army of uninsured. Some 46 million Americans do not have cover. In many cases that is out of choice and, if they fall seriously ill, hospitals have to treat them. But it is still deeply unequal. And there are also shocking inefficiencies: by some measures, 30% of American health spending is wasted.
    Then there is the question of state support. Many Americans disapprove of the "socialized medicine" of Canada and Europe. In fact, even if much of the administration is done privately, around 60% of America’s health-care bill ends up being met by the government. Proportionately, the American state already spends as much on health as the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) average and that share is set to grow as the baby boomers run up their Medicare bills and ever more employers avoid providing health-care coverage. America is, in effect, heading towards a version of socialized medicine by default.
In the author’s opinion, America’s health system is________.

选项 A、inefficient
B、feasible
C、unpopular
D、successful

答案A

解析 本题关键词为America’s health system,问题是:作者对美国的医疗体制采取何种态度?可以定位到原文第三、四段。原文第三段介绍了美国医疗体系的特点:花费高昂,覆盖不全面,采取混合体制。第四段提到了美国医疗体系的优点(strengths)和缺点(weaknesses):优点是美国人比其他国家的人有更多选择(have mole choice),而且美国医疗体系更具创新性(more innovative);缺点是有大批无医疗保险的人群(the army of uninsured),并且效率之低令人震惊(shocking inefficiencies)。选项A “inefficient”与原文的inefficiencies是同根词,属于相同含义,是正确选项。选项B和选项D属于以偏概全,因为原文提到美国的医疗体制既有优点又有缺点,因此说它是“可行的”或“成功的”都是片面的,可以排除。选项C属于无中生有,原文只提到在4600万无医保人中,很多人属于自愿不投保,但这并不代表美国人对医疗体制的接受程度,所以该项是错误的。第三段:美国的医疗体系与其他国家都不同,它是唯一一个医疗保险没有覆盖全民的发达国家。第四段:美国医疗体制既有优点又有缺点。
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